Set on an untouched coastline on north Zakynthos with crystal-clear waters, this place is brilliant for adrenalin-seeking, sports-mad teens. Peligoni will sort out your villa or apartment (nab one near to the club itself so older children can come and go as they please), then you can spend as much time as you like here - it's a family-run, boho beauty with a crowd that seems to have been scooped up from Salcombe.

Reception is a whitewashed wooden hut where the owner's dog Tiko is often stretched out and snoring in the corner, and there are a series of platforms clinging to the rocks for sunbathing. The beach is rocky so those with toddlers tend to stick to the pool, where loungers are laid-out under the trees. Sailing and windsurfing lessons take place in front of The Love Shack (for unlimited tuition, go for the watersports package; motorised activities such as ringo-ing and waterskiing are extra), and wobbly beginners learning how to balance upright on their boards or hoist up sails can be seen out in the bay. Meanwhile, at the kids' club (officially for ages seven to 12 but younger ones are also welcome) activities range from noisy volleyball sessions in the pool and fast-paced ping-pong tournaments to mocktail making. Send older ones off for a parent-free boat trip to Alykes village to spend pocket money on a fancy-dress costume for party night - they'll love the feeling of independence.

All the staff are young and enthusiastic (mostly university students who spent their own summer holidays here), particularly those in the kids' club who have the knack of gently coercing those less confident to join in - they are regularly named as favourites on post-trip feedback forms. Linger over lunches at the bamboo-shaded restaurant (huge Greek salads, hamburgers for children) and twice a week, there's a BBQ where children sit, divided by age group, at communal tables with their friends. It's a stress-free set-up that works so well, families get hooked after a single visit and come back year after year.

By Sacha Forbes

Journey time Three-and-a-half hours to Zakynthos then a 45-minute transfer Time difference +2 hours Insider tip Private chefs are available to cook for any numbers in the privacy of your own villa. Feast on crispy duck salad, smoked salmon fillet and raspberry compote. Book it www.peligoni.com. From £770 for seven nights in a two-bedroom villa, based on two adults and two children, including club membership.

Almost all of the five-star resorts on Mauritius have decent kids' clubs and beaches but there's something about the elegance and American-meets-Mauritian friendliness here that lends itself especially well to families. It's on the south-west of the island, so away from the more developed east, but close to sites such as the Seven Coloured Earth, where mud mountains and mating giant tortoises provide an enthralling spectacle.

But really this place is about staying put. There's a pool with swinging wicker chairs for dangling your feet into the water, five good restaurants including a haute-Indian that has Atul Kochar at the helm, and an enormous Iridium spa. Plus, once the children discover the Kite Flyers Club, reached by crossing a tiny stream (don't forget to shout 'who's that trip-trapping over my bridge?'), it's unlikely they'll want to leave. The staff are the right balance of energetic and considerate, encouraging timid children away from book-hungry parents with activities ranging from cake-baking to leaf printing. Most brilliant of all, none of this is confined to the kids' club area.

From the balcony of your room (ground-floor suites are best), watch as a scraggle of face-painted munchkins romp past in pirate hats following a treasure map. Or get stuck into early-evening gin o'clock while the children happily toast marshmallows by a bonfire on the beach. The sand here is more crunchy than sugar-soft (though the water is glorious for glass-bottom boating), but when you consider the excellent butlers - useful for arranging bottle warmers and picnic-making - and staff happy to whizz toddlers around in golf buggies, first forays into family travel don't come any more effortless than this.

By Emily Mathieson

Journey time A 12-hour flight then a 75-minute transfer Time difference +4 hours Insider tip The club is more flexible than the official line suggests. It will happily tweak activities or accept younger children where possible. Book it Turquoise Holidays (+44 1494 678400; www.turquoiseholidays.co.uk) offers seven nights in an Ocean View Deluxe Room from £4,799 per family of four, including half-board meals, private transfers and international flights.

The fact that Le Portetta (sister property to Lime Wood in the New Forest) is the only ski-in, ski-out hotel with a Scott Dunn Mini Explorers kids' club makes it a no-brainer for a fun-filled family snow break. The vibe is incredibly relaxed, so no need to feel embarrassed if anyone has a hissy fit in reception during check-in; sitting rooms are full of well-guarded log fires and huge settle-into sofas robust enough to withstand tiny toddler feet, and an army of professional nannies (English-speaking, smiley) are on hand to help keep everyone in order.

If you don't want your day on the slopes interrupted by a food-flinging lunch, then pre-order from the children's menu in the restaurant and they can eat with their new gang of friends. Your dedicated nanny will make sure they get there on time then whisk them off for afternoon crepes in all their kit while you head for the spa or snag a heated seat at the outdoor terrace bar Fire & Ice, which has log fires, flaming torches and fur snugs. And while you catch the first ski lift of the day, your little ones will be unloading a toy box, getting stuck into arts and crafts or joining in a group sing-song.

For those old enough to strap on their first pair of boots (age four upwards), several ski schools offer lessons right on the doorstep (there's also a large ski assault course for early learners who haven't made it on to the slopes yet but need to get to grips with the equipment and how the mini lifts work). Book one of the four lodges, a five-minute walk from the main hotel or a mountain-view loft suite, which comes with spacious bunk rooms, kitchenettes - ideal if you need to rustle up a quick mid-afternoon snack for hungry mouths - and DVDs and board games for the evenings, when the fresh mountain air means all nippers can manage is a few hours of calm before crashing out.

By Jade Beer

Journey time An hour-and-a-half flight to Geneva then a two-hour transfer Time difference +1 hour Insider tip If you're staying in a loft suite or lodge, the hotel can arrange a catered dinner (loft three sits up to 10). Book it Scott Dunn (+44 20 8682 5050; www.scottdunn.com) offers seven nights half-board for £5,950 based on two adults and two children sharing a family room, including flights, transfers and kids' club.

Where can you go in the depths of winter that doesn't require a long-haul flight? Well, Six Senses Zighy Bay is easy to get to, immensely good looking (sleek villas with private pools), the service is of the butler-with-buggy variety and, best of all, children will be superbly looked after. The whole place is a Middle Eastern wonderland with grazing goats, fig and lemon trees lining sandy paths that you can wander barefoot or by bicycle, vast buffets of the freshest fruits and sizzling mezze, and, ever-present in the background, those mysterious mountains.

Chaica's, the kids' club for four-to-12-year-olds, is a riot of salt-dough art, rock painting and beach bowls, but it's the Teen Club that really revs up the thrills with adventure hikes, wadi swimming, canyoning, raft making, archery and Bear Grylls-style survival skills. When you want to gather en masse, sunset cruises into Haffa Bay (where local children take boats to school) or dhow trips with picnics are fun. There are also cinema screenings on the beach with popcorn and incredible homemade ice creams such as rose water, fragrant cinnamon or saffron and honey. More traditional taste buds will enjoy the mini fish and chips, and maybe a banana split for pudding. Despite all the whizz-bang trimmings (Wi-Fi, private wine cellars), it very much feels like an Omani enclave - colourful, atmospheric and natural. And it's perfectly acceptable to lounge around on floor cushions, playing backgammon before feasting on a whole Shua lamb cooked underground in a sand pit for hours.

By Daisy Finer

Journey time A six-hour flight to Dubai then a two-hour drive Time difference +4 hours Insider tip The spa has the sweetest, stickiest dates, delicious ginger tea and some of the most intuitive therapists anywhere. Try the Indian head massage to release all that neck tension and leave you floating. Book it Cleveland Collection (+44 20 7843 3531; www.clevelandcollection.co.uk) offer seven nights at Six Senses Zighy Bay from £1,559 per adult and £279 per child sharing, including flights and transfers.

The Four Seasons does nothing by halves so its first-ever Disney hotel, 15 years in the making and opened last summer, was always going to be sensational. Set on Lake Buena Vista, this 443-room, 17-storey hotel is huge, though positively 'boutique' for Orlando - a destination that many parents would once have tried to avoid at all costs for fear of going totally insane. But this eye-popping, landscaped hotel will change that.

For starters, the Kids for All Seasons programme offers real bang for your buck: it takes place on Explorer Island, surrounded by a man-made, snaking river complete with spray cannons, a cascading waterfall and rapids, all navigable in giant plastic inner tubes. There's also a stonking great family pool, a gelateria, the Splash Zone - a cross between Stonehenge and the Temple of Luxor - beach volleyball, shoot hoops and a games centre with X-Box and a huge TV (it may be a comfort for your teenage grunter to at least know they exist). The twice-weekly Disney Cast of Characters breakfast can be torture for adults but the under-10s go nuts, and everyone loves the 'dive-in' movies, watched from the deck on floating pool chairs.

Even the smallest guest rooms are actually gigantic - a touch corporate perhaps, but all with proper balconies. When the children are busy, head to the spa with its Everglades-inspired interior (no gators in the treatment rooms, luckily) for a facial, or a round of golf on the Tom Fazio-designed course. And no one's going to go hungry. The rooftop restaurant, Capa, a Spanish-themed steakhouse, is the big splurge, but you can grab a chicken salad from snack bar Lickety-Split and tuck into terrific ravioli or croquettes at Ravello. The Magic Kingdom and Epcot theme parks might be only a few miles away, but chances are children will find this place almost as much fun as Disney itself.

By Jeremy Wayne

Journey time A nine-hour flight then a half-hour drive Time difference -5 hours Insider tip Arrange ahead for the concierge to organise VIP tours of Walt Disney World for express access to the rides so you can beat the queues. Book it +1 407 313 7777; www.fourseasons.com. Rooms from £610 a night, based on two children and two adults sharing.